No conference was under more scrutiny than the Big Ten this football season.

Before the year even started, the conference was plagued with scandal. Ohio State suspended five of its best players and fired one of the most successful coaches in Big Ten history – Jim Tressel - as the result of a series of events that involved players receiving tattoos and other benefits in exchange for memorabilia.

The United States faces a broad set of national security challenges that require deep scientific understanding. That’s according to Paul Hommert, who delivered a lecture to Purdue students and faculty Wednesday morning.

He currently serves as director of Sandia National Laboratories, which falls under the authority of the federal government’s National Nuclear Security Administration.